If you think IBM DB2 database modernization is a time-consuming, money-gobbling adventure into the unknown, you’re right. But that’s the correct answer only if you try to wade through it while depending on manual procedures. Automation will save time and money, as it always does when the alternative is dependent on heavy manual labor. That’s exactly why Resolution Software designed and is selling Xcase Modernize-DB, which last week became generally available in version 9.1.

Databases at typical IBM i shops are like roadkill. The older they are, the more likely they are to smell. If you’re around them all the

The IBM i server performance experts at Midrange Performance Group have created a new product that displays key IBM i performance metrics such as CPU, disk, and memory consumption in a graphical user interface. Called EXPO (short for Executive Performance Overview), the new offering uses color-coded graphics to quickly show managers how their IBM i server is running, and allows them to drill down into more detailed performance data to get to the root of potential problems.

MPG has been showing IBM i performance data in a Web browser for a few years now. According to MPG’s Randy Watson, the

Gamma Software, a developer of accounting and human resources software for the IBM i OS, has hooked up with the IBM i consultancy startup Taylored Software, the companies announced last month. The two companies have worked together to create a direct interface between Taylored’s new NetShift time clock system and the GammaSoft Executive Suite.

Typically, when two or more IT vendors are involved with the same customer, you can count on there being a bit of work involved to get those products to talk to each other. It just goes without saying that the system integrators will get

Call centers that require access to IBM i and z/OS systems may be interested in the latest release of Jacada Web-enablement software, Jacada Interface Server 9.0. The vendor, which today focuses exclusively on providing solutions that simplify the screens and workflows used by customer service representatives in call centers, says JIS 9.0 provides updated support for the latest host operating systems, Web application servers, and Web browsers.

Jacada has focused on providing call center solutions for the last eight years. The vendor, which was the first vendor to provide screen-scraping technology to AS/400 shops more than 15 years ago when

Companies adopting the version 8.5.3 release of IBM‘s Lotus Notes and Domino will get a free license to the Files and Profiles features of IBM’s increasingly pervasive social networking software, called IBM Connections. The new release also brings enhancements to email and calendars, and new features in areas of mobile computing and virtualization support.

IBM has been building social networking capabilities into its Lotus Notes and Domino products for some time. There is Engage, the Web-based collaboration feature of the hosted version of Lotus Notes and Domino, called LotusLive, that enables workers to get together in forums, participate in

IBM i shops that use the latest release of Desktop Capture that S4i Systems announced last week will gain the capability to automatically scan and input more types of documents into their content management systems.

Desktop Capture is a Windows program designed to streamline the acquisition of documents into a content management system (CMS) or document management and workflow system. The software, which S4i Systems unveiled a year ago, can capture documents from a variety of sources, including scanners (for paper-based documents), or e-mail inboxes and file systems (for electronic documents).

Desktop Capture is particularly well-suited to help customers

High Liner Foods, a Nova Scotia processor of frozen seafood, has tapped Data Storage Corp. (DSC) to protect its data and its applications. The company will utilize two forms of protection, including DSC’s hosted high availability setup as well as a data vaulting solution.

High Liner Foods, which reported revenue of $576 million Canadian ($570 million USD) during its fiscal 2010, is one of North America’s largest seafood processing operations. The company sources finfish and shellfish from all over the world, processes them, and stores them for distribution to restaurants and retail outlets across the U.S. and Canada.

The company

Gartner has placed Fiserv‘s IBM i-based Signature banking system in the leaders quadrant of its “Magic Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking” report for 2011. Also, Fiserv announced it has partnered with workforce management software provider Kronos to help Signature customers maximize their labor efficiencies.

Gartner’s Magic Quadrants, if you’ve never seen one, rank IT solutions on two axes, including the “completeness of vision” and the “ability to execute.” Those that score well in both categories are placed in the vaunted upper left quadrant of the magical box. Nine other vendors had solutions in the winners quadrant, Fiserv says.

Computer Guidance Corp. (CGC) recently launched version 4 of its Construction Management System, eCMS. Major new features in eCMS 4.0 include a new GUI, an updated business intelligence module, and an updated content management system.

CGC’s flagship application provides mid- to large-size contractors and other companies in the construction industry with an integrated platform for a range of activities, including financial accounting, project management, bidding, and human resources. The software, which runs exclusively on the IBM i platform, is available as an IBM i Solution Edition and as a hosted application.

CGC says eCMS 4.0 contains hundreds of new features.

“Read the freaking manual” (RTFM) is a common response (usually agitated response) to questions that invariably come up in IT settings. Sometimes it’s conversational, but it more frequently occurs in email or instant messaging or a posting on a forum.

But in a conversation I had last week with Bill Hammond, product marketing manager at Vision Solutions, he asked me to imagine a world where sagging shelves overloaded with manuals the size of Tokyo phone books no longer existed. What? No product manuals? You’ve got to be kidding. How will anything get fixed?

It’s all about changing the user